He gives life and breath

I listened to our President’s words last night with sorrow as he made himself an advocate for the death culture in America. What do I mean?  Increasingly, Americans are prone to use phrases that ignore the real issues. “Quality of life” creeps into our discussions about those with critical, lingering illness. “Choice” obscures the decision to end a life almost before it begins. When people reject the truth of Creation, believing that humanity emerged from the primordial ooze by chance, the sacredness of human life is forgotten. The conversation about life that only turns on words about happiness, convenience, or what seems best in the moment, ignores the precious gift that each person is to us and to our God.

The most difficult conversations usually swirl around the issue of abortion, the choice to end a human life during pregnancy. I am aware of the very real and difficult issues that can surround an unplanned pregnancy.  The discussion extends to the those hard choices that must be made at the ‘end of life,’ while we are aging, when we suffer dementia, or become terminally ill.  Though times of complexity, to choose to make our decisions on  ‘what seems best’ or what appears to be convenient, ignores the Christian convictions about life’s sacredness. 

I am moved by the wonder and mystery of the words of the Psalm which tells us "You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." (Psalm 139:13-14, NIV)  You matter to God!  We are in awe of this truth - "You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed." (Psalm 139:16, NLT)  

And we know that Jesus calls His followers to hold others in highest regard by refusing even to express contempt for another person.  “You have heard that the law of Moses says, ‘Do not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the high council. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell." (Matthew 5:21-22, NLT)

After the Supreme Court decision of 1973 that set aside the state laws governing abortion, I joined with a group of Christians who took a public stand to protect life. While holding the life of the unborn as sacred, we firmly believed that attacking women and sensationalizing the argument was antithetical to the call of Christ. Rather, we chose to create a place in our community that offered support, information, and resources for women (or couples) who found themselves struggling with an unplanned pregnancy.  That ministry continues to this day as a place where love is expressed with truth and practical support for women who are struggling to find their way to make a life-changing and difficult choice.  (CareNet Pregnancy Resources)

Because I know that life is a gift of God, that each and every human being belongs to Him, I am ‘pro-life!’ I despise ‘the death culture’ that embraces violence as a solution to conflict.  Loving ‘life’ will cause a citizen to work to hold authorities who operate with government sanction responsible to protect the lives of the poor and those without political influence and, in my opinion, will lead to great skepticism about the imposition of the death penalty, since it is applied so randomly and unfairly. And, being pro-life will extend to those who are approaching the end of life, especially the elderly.

Some question the reason that I am so convinced about the necessity of defending the lives of the unborn. More than once I have been asked, “Jerry, there is no passage in the Bible that says, ‘you shall not have an abortion’ so why do you believe it is an issue of moral concern?” 

As previously stated Holy Scripture teaches that life comes from God, His gift. That is the primary reason that I am convinced of the need to protect life from the instant of conception to the last breath. And then there is this, too.

Repeatedly, our God teaches those who love Him to love others selflessly. This means that we will seek justice, stand alongside of the weak, defending those who cannot defend themselves. Who is more defenseless than the one still in the womb, totally dependent on another for survival?  Who is more vulnerable than Grandma who has become dependent on the care of others to survive?

The defense of life must be shaped by love, not harsh condemning words. Taking the model of Jesus, we must hold out our hands, being willing to give ourselves away to help those who find themselves hurting, confused, or uncertain about the future. We cannot claim to be ‘pro-life’ if we promote war, demand violent means to meet violence, or if we are unwilling provide for the child that is born ‘inconveniently.’ However, compassion must never silence our commitment to the truth about the sacred gift called ‘life.’  Life is as complex as love is. The defense of life should involve intense prayer, careful thought, and carefulness in our rhetoric. It is a sin to demonize our adversaries. While the basic truth is an unwavering principle, the way that we express that truth must be compassionate.

A final word must include hopeful redemption! How thankful I am that God loves and forgives. All of us come up short of God’s plan for us. Our only hope of finding eternal life is through faith in Christ Jesus who died for all of us and who lives to reconcile us to our Father. To single out the woman who has had an abortion and imply her decision is an unforgivable sin is wrong, ignoring the wonder of the grace of God, found in Christ our Lord. Lives are really changed by restoration that we received as a gift of God.

So, I will stand for life, and do so with humility, with grace, and praying to know the compassion of Jesus even as my convictions extend to every human being, knowing that ‘they are precious in His sight.’

Here is a word from the Word. Let the wonder of the Creator’s love cause you to hold life as a precious gift. "He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need there is." (Acts 17:25, NLT)   "Then God said, “Let us make people in our image, to be like ourselves. They will be masters over all life—the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the livestock, wild animals, and small animals.” So God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:26-27, NLT)

________________

Father, I thank you for the gift of life.
I am in awe of the wonder and complexity of being.
I pray that we, as a nation, will come to understand
Your will and way, that we will take great care of life
in all seasons and times.

Fill us with compassion. Help us to serve selflessly.
Shine the light of Your love through us, I pray.

In Jesus’ name. Amen

Defeated or Surrendered?

If you know me very well you know that I question authority! One of the things that especially irritates me are rules that lack any real reason other than “because I said so.”  Yes, the law exists for public order and I am glad for it but I despise regulations that appear to exist solely to justify the job of some regulator.  Despite my inclination to independence, I try to surrender myelf to obedience because it is generally the right thing to do, for God’s sake. The Word tells me to be a good citizen and to honor the law.   

Of much more significance is the challenge of surrender to the will of God!  He asks me to love the unlovely, to forgive without holding back, to serve even when unnoticed, to say “no” to temptation and “yes” to His ways. I know full well the experience described by Paul in Romans 7:  “The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.”

Maturity has taught me that my surrender to the will of another is not a sign of defeat or weakness.
It is a mark of strength to choose humility. 

When I say “yes” to the Spirit’s call to love the unlovely, to care for the broken, to take up the cause of those who are without the ability to defend themselves, setting aside my pride and my way, I am living like Jesus did!  Paul, prior to meeting Jesus, was a proud Pharisee, a man much concerned about his reputation. But, in his encounter with the Lord on the road to Damascus, he surrendered! 

He recognized Jesus as his Lord, a word of submission. His embrace of submission to Jesus was personally costly in terms of his stature among his fellow Pharisees. Jews following his conversion.  Later in his life, even many of those with whom he shared the Gospel treated him poorly.  But, he surrendered - choosing to allow himself to be accused, attacked, and rejected.  Why?  He answers with these words - "If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness." (2 Corinthians 11:30, NIV)

Christian we are called to be like Jesus, willing to forget Self and embrace surrender! He gave away His divine rights and stood alongside of us who were sinners. "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being." (Philippians 2:5-7, NLT)  He went further!  He submitted Himself, in the will of God, to the ignominy of crucifixion.  Stripped of respect as well as His clothes, He hung naked on a cross, identified with the outcasts, reviled by the respected.  On the Cross, He became the Bridge of God’s grace to sinful humanity.

Do you want to love like Jesus? Do you want to be a person through whom He is able to show His love? The only way is the surrender of self willl to God’s will. He asks that we “turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it." (Luke 9:23-24, NLT)  The wonder of all this is that when we have left behind our love of Self, making what we treasure here on this earth secondary to His call, only then do we find the treasure that is most precious.  We cannot possess the latter until we have let go of the former.

Here’s the word from the Word shows the reward of surrender. Because of His submission, "God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining." (Philippians 2:9-14, NIV)

This Monday morning the key question for your prayerful meditation  is this - is there something I need to surrender to Jesus that I might fully live in the Spirit?

____________

(Video of this blog at this link)

Heavenly Father, help me to live in obedience,
Filled with faith,
So that Your blessings can flow through me
To this world.
May my thoughts, words, and actions
Cause others to turn to You and
Give You praise.
In Jesus’ holy Name, I pray.

Amen